PLAYERS

PLAYERS; Viola Was Clearly the Right Choice

By MALCOLM MORAN

Published: October 27, 1987

MINNEAPOLIS—
IT hardly seems that six and a half years have passed since the jury was out on Frank Viola. On a cold, raw Saturday - April 25, 1981 - the jury reconvened at Redman Field in Jamaica to continue its deliberations.

On a normal day, four or five scouts representing major league organizations would have come to watch a St. John's baseball game. But on that day, with a chance to see two junior left-handed pitchers in a doubleheader against Penn State - John Franco in the first game and Viola in the second - their number had swelled to nearly three dozen.

Viola had been chosen by the Kansas City Royals in the 16th round of the June 1978 draft, at the end of his senior year at East Meadow (L.I.) High School. Three years later, in the middle of his junior season at St. John's, scouts debated how high his ability would place him in that draft.

They questioned the quality of competition among northeastern colleges. The scouts who left early acknowledged Viola's control but were not thrilled by his fastball. The ones who stayed to the end were more impressed by the strength Viola seemed to gain.

HIS performances during the remainder of that season would determine the assessments that define young careers. The opinions of the scouts influence dollar decisions, but just as significantly, they often contribute to the likelihood of success. It was not a comfortable time as Frank Viola, age 21, approached his day of decision.

Between games of the doubleheader, not long before Helen Viola's son took the mound, she began to have chest pains. She was taken to a hospital. The diagnosis was that she had suffered a mild heart attack.

''She told them not to say anything to me until the end of the game,'' Viola said yesterday, the morning after the Minnesota Twins won the World Series and he was named its most valuable player. ''That's the way my family is. Baseball is so important to the Viola family that she wanted to keep a heart attack quiet so I could pitch my game.''

The family was together half a continent from home on Sunday night, as Frank Sr. and Helen watched their son pitch his game of games for the Twins, who picked him in the second round of that 1981 draft. His brother, John - who got married on the Saturday of the first Series game while his best man was pitching - had been invited to the game at 7 A.M. on Sunday. The honeymooning bride and groom flew in from Florida.

Late Sunday night, when the Twins returned to the floor of the Metrodome, Viola used his left arm to hold his wife, Kathy, as they took in all the noise. Champagne was in his hair. Reality was far away. His greatest professional experience had just ended, but something strange was just beginning.

Everywhere, people called out, ''Frankie . . .'' A woman told the Violas they had won a car. His wife shrieked. Another woman told Viola there was money to be made just for looking into a camera and saying that he planned to head to a resort area known for a highly publicized mouse. Viola listened to this offer, turned and looked at his wife in astonishment and then shouted the words he was asked to say.

Last night, those words were heard on television here: ''I'm going to Disney World,'' Viola said.

Viola had won a game; the Violas were winning a game show.

Early yesterday morning, after one hour of sleep, he appeared on network television, took his family to the airport and took care of the children, Frank III and Brittany Ann, while his wife went to sleep. Neighbors had draped banners on his house. ''I think I'm running on adrenaline,'' Viola said. ''There's a lot more emotion today. It's something that every player has to go through - or hope they can go through. The thing that helps me is I enjoy talking. But words can only do so much.''

Viola had once despised the Metrodome. His St. John's record was 26-2, including 10 victories in 10 starts in that 1981 season, and a 7-0 record in postseason games. As a major league rookie in 1982, he had a 4-10 record for a Minnesota team that lost 102 games. ''I grew up my whole life being a winner,'' he said. ''You don't want to acclimate yourself to being a loser.''

When the organization's progress slowed in 1985 and 1986, Viola thought about going elsewhere.

''I've got free agency after next year,'' he said. ''That was the only time I thought about leaving. It got to the point where I started thinking about my free agency. But it was a very short time.''

He has now been a Minnesotan long enough to appreciate the significance of his team's victory to the people there. But it was not until he read a newspaper yesterday morning, Viola said, that he fully felt its importance. A place that has had enough losing Super Bowl teams and presidential hopefuls to be perceived as being incapable of winning had won both graciously and loudly.

Reality seemed far, far away. The videotape has recorded the television pictures. The other images continued to roll through his mind. ''This is going into my library,'' Frank Viola said.